The Kemp’s and the Hartsock’s wish you a very happy thanksgiving!!!
Bobby and I are so thankful for the Lord’s saving grace, mercy, and love, for each other, for family and friends both here and at home, both new and old, for all of you and your continued prayers, and for being here. We are so blessed!!!
The preparation for the thanksgiving meal was a little stressful. Wednesday, Denis took us shopping for a turkey and all the fixins’. I think we looked all over Ukraine for a turkey. The only turkey that we found was chopped up into pieces at a grocery store. We asked to buy the whole turkey, but since no one has ever asked for a whole turkey, they did not know how to price it. Besides, the whole turkey weighed a whopping 40 pounds (this is not a typo). This thing would not have fit in our oven!!! We ended up buying a thigh weighing about 5 pounds, itself, and several breast fillets. Other grocery challenges:
Shortening (or lard)-can’t buy it in the store but in the open air market and try explaining what that is!!
Cloves-don’t know what those are
Half and half-why would you have ½ milk and ½ cream?
Pecans-no such things here;
Pie crust-what is a pie?
But, we adapted and had a wonderful meal. The pecan pie became a walnut pastry (made with a ready-made dough something like puff pastry) that I will definitely make at home. We did find sweet potatoes and they were worth every cent of the $9.00 that we paid for 4 of them. We even found spices for the apple cider, making us all feel like we were at home. Our 4 kids in addition to the Hartsock’s 3 kids, plus Nina, Marina, and Yana all had a great time. It was truly home away from home. We are including a picture of all of us at the end of the day, including some of the leftovers. It is a day that will always be with us in our hearts and memories.
After the meal, the kids bathed. I know you are wondering why we would add this in there, but they seem to love to come to the apartment to bathe and put on pajamas (the boys love their boxers!!) I guess they are much more comfortable after wearing those bikinis. After settling in, we all watched the English version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas DVD that we had brought with us. The movie is pretty action-packed so it didn’t matter that they did not understand most of the words. The kids are behaving very well, and are getting more used to us. They smile a lot and are enjoying learning some English. Denis has been very good to try to teach them English before we come home. SV and K love to wrestle with each other. SV is so much larger than K but he is gentle and patient with her. At this point, we see no developmental deficits that are so apparent in a lot of orphanage children. We have continued to spend a lot of time with all 4 kids, but know that it will be very difficult for them to separate when that time comes. We are praying for a court date one day next week.
As I am writing this, it is 12:00 midnight, CST. If I were at home, I would be organizing sale papers and getting my battle plan together to wage war on the mall and to beat other shoppers for the best deal. We have heard that there are no sales in Ukraine. There is also no SEC football. If anyone has any idea how we can get the Alabama/Auburn game here please let us know. With the time difference, it will play at 2:45 am on Sunday morning.
Bobby and I are so thankful for the Lord’s saving grace, mercy, and love, for each other, for family and friends both here and at home, both new and old, for all of you and your continued prayers, and for being here. We are so blessed!!!
The preparation for the thanksgiving meal was a little stressful. Wednesday, Denis took us shopping for a turkey and all the fixins’. I think we looked all over Ukraine for a turkey. The only turkey that we found was chopped up into pieces at a grocery store. We asked to buy the whole turkey, but since no one has ever asked for a whole turkey, they did not know how to price it. Besides, the whole turkey weighed a whopping 40 pounds (this is not a typo). This thing would not have fit in our oven!!! We ended up buying a thigh weighing about 5 pounds, itself, and several breast fillets. Other grocery challenges:
Shortening (or lard)-can’t buy it in the store but in the open air market and try explaining what that is!!
Cloves-don’t know what those are
Half and half-why would you have ½ milk and ½ cream?
Pecans-no such things here;
Pie crust-what is a pie?
But, we adapted and had a wonderful meal. The pecan pie became a walnut pastry (made with a ready-made dough something like puff pastry) that I will definitely make at home. We did find sweet potatoes and they were worth every cent of the $9.00 that we paid for 4 of them. We even found spices for the apple cider, making us all feel like we were at home. Our 4 kids in addition to the Hartsock’s 3 kids, plus Nina, Marina, and Yana all had a great time. It was truly home away from home. We are including a picture of all of us at the end of the day, including some of the leftovers. It is a day that will always be with us in our hearts and memories.
After the meal, the kids bathed. I know you are wondering why we would add this in there, but they seem to love to come to the apartment to bathe and put on pajamas (the boys love their boxers!!) I guess they are much more comfortable after wearing those bikinis. After settling in, we all watched the English version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas DVD that we had brought with us. The movie is pretty action-packed so it didn’t matter that they did not understand most of the words. The kids are behaving very well, and are getting more used to us. They smile a lot and are enjoying learning some English. Denis has been very good to try to teach them English before we come home. SV and K love to wrestle with each other. SV is so much larger than K but he is gentle and patient with her. At this point, we see no developmental deficits that are so apparent in a lot of orphanage children. We have continued to spend a lot of time with all 4 kids, but know that it will be very difficult for them to separate when that time comes. We are praying for a court date one day next week.
As I am writing this, it is 12:00 midnight, CST. If I were at home, I would be organizing sale papers and getting my battle plan together to wage war on the mall and to beat other shoppers for the best deal. We have heard that there are no sales in Ukraine. There is also no SEC football. If anyone has any idea how we can get the Alabama/Auburn game here please let us know. With the time difference, it will play at 2:45 am on Sunday morning.
3 comments:
Hi Mom and Dad!!
Wow! They sure know how to grow Turkeys in the Ukraine!! What in the world are they feeding them? Definitely not pecans! I'm glad you all had a delicious meal. I'm loving the photo you posted. I love pictures. Call me tomorrow and I'll give you an Auburn/Alabama update. Did you pack any shakers in those 8 suitcases? War Eagle!! Love you and miss you!
Kim & Bobby,
Sounds like Thanksgiving was eventful. I know that you are creating memories that will last a lifetime. I didn't know that turkeys grew that big. Perhaps it wasn't really a turkey. Maybe it was a buzzard, or something else! ha ha
I know that you are in the center of God's will. Can't wait to see ALL the pictures and hear ALL the stories.
Just know that someone in Rochester is praying for you!
Kim
Hey Bobby and Kim,
Love the Thanksgiving Picture! We had the Coe's over and we prayed for all our friends in Ukraine. GREAT NEWS about Y! We will continue to pray.
War Eagle!! Auburn Won! The Grace's came over for the game. They will be joining you all soon.
Love,
The Brocks
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